Meteorological Constitution of the Earth. 317 



The time of harvest in Palestine was formerly from the 

 middle of April until the end of May. Travellers of our 

 days mention, that in the south of Palestine barley was quite 

 yellow in the middle of April. Near Acre wheat was ripe on 

 the 13th of May; and, according to Russel, the harvest of 

 Aleppo, which has a colder climate, is from the beginning to 

 the 20th of May. In Egypt, the climate of which is warmer, the 

 harvest of wheat is now at the end of April or the beginning 

 of May. In the south of Sicily, the wheat harvest is at the 

 end of May or the beginning of June. The feast of the ta- 

 bernacle, or the feast of the wine-harvest of ancient Palestine, 

 was in October ; now the wine-harvest is, according to travel- 

 lers, at the end of September or the beginning of October. It 

 may be seen from many passages in the Bible, that snow and ice 

 were known in former times in Palestine, although of rare oc- 

 currence. It is the same now. It is likewise evident from 

 several passages, that they used artificial heat to warm them- 

 selves, and travellers mention that even now the nights are very 

 cold. 



The ancient authors in geography and history, principally 

 Theophrastus, give a tolerably clear idea of the plants of 

 Egypt. Most of the trees, and some other plants that have 

 still their northernmost limits in Egypt, are mentioned by him 

 as not occurring farther to the north, such as Mimosa Nilotica, 

 Ficus sycamorus^ Cordia Mywa^ Hyperanthera Moringa, and 

 Nympihcea lotus. The list might be easily increased, but only 

 such are given, about which, as mentioned by the ancients, not 

 the least doubt can exist. The polar limit of Nymphcea 

 lotus has been placed in Egypt, although Waldstein and 

 Kitaibel describe the plant as growing in the hot springs of 

 Hungary ; but by this peculiarity it belongs to another mean 

 temperature than that of the country. A palm-tree, differ- 

 ent from the date-tree, the Cucifera Thebaica, grows now in 

 Upper, but not in Lower Egypt. Theophrastus, who describes 

 it exactly, speaks of it only as a plant of Upper Egypt. It 

 follows, from the observations of Theophrastus and Pliny, that 

 the olive-tree was cultivated in Upper Egypt; that the climate 

 could not have been more warm ; for the tree does not bear a 

 great heat, its equatorial limit being on this side of the tropic. 



VOL. VIII. NO. If. APRIL 1828. X 



